


I got to know the sky; but it didn't know me

by highstrider



Series: Thalia Grace rewrite [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 14:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2655923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highstrider/pseuds/highstrider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thalia Grace replaces Percy Jackson as the child of the prophecy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bearings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sob tore out of me, unwarranted. _Not Luke_. Tears streamed down my face and onto my hands, shaking more and more. _Not Luke_. Another sob. _Not Luke_.

“I’m Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus.”

 

The first few hours were a blur for me. People were shocked, surprised, in awe. I guess I had gathered a reputation as a tree. It was weird, to think time had passed. Annabeth was taller, more confident. Grover was older, less twitchy. Chiron finally pulled me away after I got a tour, said that I needed some time to recoup. When he pulled me into the Big House, I realized how exhausted I felt. Collapsing into the first chair I saw, I gratefully accepted a Coke from Mr. D and waited for the lecture.

“I’m sure you have many questions, Miss Grace.”

“Thalia, please,” I said through a big gulp of my drink.

“I know you didn’t see much of the camp the first time you were here,” Chiron said. His smile was sad, like I was fragile. I guess I was.

“I remember … some stuff. But I guess that’s from being a tree.”

“You remember things?” Mr. D piped up.

“Yeah. Like, a minotaur. Raids. Screaming and stuff. Games, I guess? Not a lot, and I couldn’t see. Just … sounds.”

“That’s remarkable,” Chiron whispered. I glanced between him and Mr. D.

“I’m guessing you two don’t have a lot of practice with demigods being trees?”

They both shook their heads. My best guess was that we could try talking to the nymphs, but even then it wouldn’t be a lot of help. They were naturally trees. My father was trying to stave off my death.

“I’ll talk to the nymphs,” Mr. D said. He got up and left. Chiron glanced back at me.

“Do you still have your weapons?”

I jangled my wrists at him and grinned. It was nice to know that I hadn’t lost them. The weapons I loved.

“I’d like to take a look around, if you don’t mind.”

“Absolutely not. I’ll let you know when Mr. D comes back.”

I nodded and shoved myself out of the chair. I could have stayed there forever. Coke in hand, I went outside. I walked to the cabins, and into my cabin. Zeus’ cabin. Unoccupied for years. I clicked the lights on, glancing at the statue in the corner.

“That’s not weird.”

“Knock, knock.” I turned to see Annabeth in the doorway. “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course.” I nodded and gestured to the bed.

She looked up at me with big grey eyes, and I couldn’t forget the little girl Luke and I had saved. We smiled at the same time, and laughed.

“It’s … weird, seeing you again.”

“Yeah.”

“Was it strange? Being a tree? Waking up?”

Is anything _not_ strange? I almost shot back. Instead I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But, everything we do is strange, Chase.”

She grinned, distracted, and nodded. “Have you met Percy?”

“The kid that woke me up? I mean, I saw him but I haven’t talked to him.”

“You should meet him. I mean, you two are the only children of the Big Three around and –”

“Where’s Luke?”

Annabeth opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it again. “I … like I was saying –“

“Don’t change the subject. I don’t care if he’s dead, Annabeth, I just –“

“He’s not dead.” She said it like she wished he was. “He … he poisoned your tree. He’s joining forces with the Titan lord.”

“No.” Not Luke. No matter how angry Luke was. Not Luke.

“Thalia, I hate it as much as you, but it’s a fact and –“

“No. Luke wouldn’t – he _can’t_ – you’re lying.”

“Thalia –“

I wouldn’t believe it. Not our Luke. Luke who saved my life. Luke who knew everything about me. Luke I loved.

“No.”

“I can leave.”

“I think you should.”

The door closed behind her softly, like she was scared the noise might anger me. Still holding to the last moments, knowing what was coming; I closed the blinds and stuffed the sheets under the door. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes burned. _Not Luke_. My hands started to shake and I forced my bracelets off onto the table, scraping my knuckles. The wounds reddened slightly, blood coming to the skin _. Not Luke._ The sob tore out of me, unwarranted. _Not Luke_. Tears streamed down my face and onto my hands, shaking more and more. _Not Luke_. Another sob. _Not Luke_. Memories. Luke’s smiling face. His warms hands. The love I felt. _Not Luke_. He couldn’t do this _. Not Luke_. He couldn’t try and kill me. _Not Luke._ We were unstoppable together. _Not Luke_. My body felt like it was caving. _Not Luke_. I couldn’t breathe. _Not Luke_. Everything turned black. _Not Luke_. I screamed. _Not Luke_. I hit the wall. _Not Luke_. I fell onto the floor _. Not Luke_. I welcomed the cold. _Not Luke_. I screamed again. _Not Luke_. I pulled my knees in. _Not Luke_. I sobbed. _Not Luke_.

 

Grief to anger to bargaining to acceptance, I stood up a few hours later and wiped my face. I could fight it. I could. But nothing was going to change until I could see him again. Pulling my shield and the rest of my bracelets back on, I made sure there were no black smudges on my face as I trudged across the U to the Aphrodite cabin.

The girl that answered introduced me immediately to Silena Beauregard, cabin leader. I asked her for some eyeliner, and she obliged. She offered to sit down and talk about Luke, as well, while we standing away from the horde of her siblings.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped, not understanding why she would even think to bring it up.

She turned and touched my heart, a soft smile on her face. “You’re hurting, Thalia. And I’m sorry for what he’s done to you, but anger will not help. You’ll have to accept what he’s done on your own terms. Seek your own closure. And don’t let anyone tell you anything about him.”

 _Smart_ , was the first thing that came to mind. I hugged her and took the little bag of valuables she gave me, and took them back to my cabin. Thinking it best not to run around like I was going to murder everyone, I put my sword up on the wall, put on eyeliner, shrugged off my jacket and mussed up my hair. Then I headed to the Hermes cabin.

Whatever Luke had been his sibling were not the same. The entire cabin was rambunctious, filled to the brim with demigods. Finding the cabin leader was nothing short a game of _Where’s Waldo_? and when they finally showed up, it was hard to hold their attention for long. But I liked the Stoll brothers. Travis and Connor were sincere behind the mischievous smiles and messed up hair. When I finally managed to drag them outside, they both sobered instantly.

“I guess you want to talk about Luke,” Travis began.

“He was a great guy, no matter what he’s done,” Connor said. “I mean, he’s our brother, so I guess we feel like we owe him something, y’know? But half this camp owes him something. He never complained about all the kids we’d get in our cabin; never complained about chores or games or who we got stuck with.”

“Or when the Ares kids tried to raid us,” Travis laughed. Connor lit up and I cut them off.

“Did you notice anything before he … left?”

“Uh … yeah.” Travis and Connor nodded. “He was pretty moody about a week before he left.”

“He was pretty moody before Percy took that quest,” Connor said.

“What quest?”

“Oh, uh, Hades took his mom or something.” Travis said.

“A lightning bolt was missing.”

“ _The_ lightning bolt was missing. Your dad’s bolt.”

“And Hades thought he had it or something.”

“And I think Luke tried to send Percy to Tarturus.”

“With some flying shoes he stole from our dad.”

“And, yeah, turns out Luke took the bolt.”

“When Percy came back, Luke flipped.”

“Attacked the camp.”

“Then disappeared.”

“Apparently Percy saw him again when he went to the Sea of Monsters.”

“But we didn’t hear a lot about that.”

“And then you woke up, so.”

“Why did Percy go to the Sea of Monsters?” I asked.

“To get the Golden Fleece.”

“To save your tree.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “Thank you guys.”

“No problem!” They answered together. Connor gave me a side hug and a sad smile, then they ran back inside their cabin.

 

Back inside Cabin One, I felt like my bones were shaking. Luke attacked the camp. Luke tried to kill this Percy Jackson kid. Luke ran off. Luke tried to kill me. I needed a distraction.

I rifled through the stuff Silena had given me. Make-up, a couple CHB shirts, other essentials and a pair of boots. They were scuffed and dirty, but they fit and I was grateful.

Annabeth finally rolled back around to let me know dinner was soon. I apologized for kicking her out earlier.

“It’s fine,” she said as we walked. “I – I’m not really dealing with it, so I understand.”

I couldn’t think of what to say to her, so I let her run off to her table. Sitting alone was not the best way to end my day, but it was probably for the best. I didn’t really know anyone here, aside from the few people I’d talked to today and Annabeth. I could’ve probably sat at the Hermes table, but I was tired, and they were loud, so I ate my burger in silence, getting up to scrape some fries for my dad. _Thanks for saving my life_.


	2. Victory

_I’m running. My legs are tired and my lungs burning. I hear voices, but I don’t turn around. I feel like running is a bit pointless now, like I’m never going to get away. I feel like I should stop. I stumble, but don’t fall. Tears fall down my face, but it’s useless, no sobs come from my sore lungs. I keep running. Everything is way too focused, and it’s overwhelming. Suddenly, I hear Luke shout, “Look out!” and I turn into a hit from some monster. I go rolling; hear Annabeth shout for me to get up. I dodge the next blow and come up with my spear and shield._

_“Go!” I shout, but my voice is muddled and weak. I see Luke holding onto Annabeth, see Grover chewing on the edge of his shirt. “Go!” I yell again. I want to give in to exhaustion. I want to lay down and go to sleep. “Go.”_

_The monster must think I’m dying because it turns. I try to crawl after him, or stand up, or distract him in any way, but I can’t move. I feel like I’m weighed down with lead. I can’t speak. Annabeth is crying. Luke looks scared. I try to tell them to run. I’m shouting in my mind, but I can’t summon the strength to yell at them. I watch as they get crushed, as Annabeth goes flying. I cry, but I still can’t move. Grover is running, Luke is dead. The monster turns and I watch as he brings his weapon up and hits me._

I wake up with ice in my veins, crying and shaking.

It takes me a few minutes to get up out of bed, to shake off the feeling that I’m still being weighed down. It’s just a stress dream, I know. And I know that I’ll end up having more of them, but right now, I just want something to eat.

I pull on a couple layers, and step outside into the darkness. It’s early in the morning, which means I won’t get to eat for a least another two hours. My stomach rumbles in protest, and I think of trying to go back to sleep when I notice another light is on, in the closest cabin to mine.

I knock on the door, remembering that I’ve never actually talked to this kid before, but he answers and I smile weakly in greeting. Percy lets me in, eyes following me as I sit next to the little pool of salt water he has in his room.

“So, I’m Thalia.”

He nods, arms wrapped around himself protectively. I remember he’s only twelve.

“We met yesterday.” He sounds like he’s trying to be sarcastic, but it’s too early in the morning for him.

I nod and glance around. His cabin looks a lot like mine:  empty and solitary. I wonder if he gets lonely. There’s a minotaur horn on the wall, and a severely dented shield. I don’t have time to ask about the shield.

“Why are you here?” His eyes are bright; always alert. Scared of a threat. He looks like a cat that’s been backed into a corner, hair raised and hissing.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I answer honestly. He relaxes a bit. I’m guessing he’s had some pretty terrible nightmares too.

“Do you have any snacks?” I don’t feel like I devoured an entire burger the night before. Percy’s arms drop and he looks around, digging through some stuff before pulling out a smashed packaged cake and handing it to me.

“I keep some snacks for Grover and Tyson.”

“Tyson?” I try to pace myself through the snack cake.

“My brother. Uh, half brother. He’s a Cyclops. He went to work with the other Cyclopses.”

“Oh.” I don’t know how to respond to a Cyclops brother, so I keep eating.

We sit in silence as I try to eat as quietly as possible. It’s kind of comfortable, really,  just being in the same room with another person. I finished the cake and look around for a trash can. Percy waves a dismissive hand so I drop it in the floor. “I’ll clean up before inspection.”

I snort at this, and he grins back, and we laugh for a few minutes before quieting down.

“Girls and guys aren’t supposed to be in the same cabin, so you can hang out you just need to sneak back before people start waking up.” He finally sits on his bed, leaning against the wall.

“We’re cousins, that’s gross.”

“Everyone’s cousins.”

We start laughing again and it feels good. He’s actually not as difficult to get along with as I’d feared. Glancing back at his face, I can feel that he’s thinking the same thing.

 

I leave just before the light starts to come out. Nobody sees me, so I lay down on my bed for a few minutes while thinking about what I’m going to do for a whole day. I don’t know if Chiron will throw me into the middle of things at the camp, but I’m not going to argue with him if he does. I need a distraction – maybe if I’m exhausted then I won’t have nightmares.

The bell rings for breakfast and I almost knock a Thalia-sized hole in the door racing to the pavilion.

My plate is full to the brim, towering on itself and I eat it all. I get a second plate of food and give half of it to the fire. I ask for a calm day, and put my plate up. Chiron beckons me over and I follow him back towards the Big House.

“The nymphs are not sure what to do about your memories during your time as a tree. The best they can assume is that you will have to let them come back to you naturally.”

This is kind of what I expected, honestly. So the news doesn’t scare me.

“In the meantime, you can raid the Big House for some new clothing. Your cabin will be added to the rotations with the Poseidon cabin, since there are so few of you, and your progress in the sparring rounds will be considered when grouping you in Capture the Flag games. Any questions, Thalia?”

 

Percy and I saw a lot of each other over the next two weeks. The smallest cabin, aside from ours, was the Hephaestus cabin, but there were still about 8 of them, so they had some leeway on the worse chores. It didn’t matter; Percy didn’t push for a lot of conversation with me, so I didn’t feel like I had to prove anything, which worked for both of us. We got work done quicker than the larger groups, and only had a couple of incidents in which I lost my temper and Chiron had to forcibly remove the both of us from the area.

A week after, Chrion announced a Capture the Flag game. We were being paired with Hermes and Hephaestus, against Athena, Apollo and Ares. As they delved into strategy across the way, Connor and Travis stood at the head of our rag tag group and told us that Percy and I were the extraction team.

“We’ll keep Annabeth and Clarisse distracted. Charlie and Nyssa can set some of those flash bombs –“ Nyssa grinned from her seat beside one of the Hermes girls “—and we should have this. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

I doubted this game would take fifteen minutes, but I geared up anyway and stood off to the side. Even the unclaimed kids that found housing in the Hermes cabin seemed to fit in well. Percy nudged my arm.

“Does Connor really think he can outsmart Annabeth?”

I snorted. Luke had been pretty smart, but I wasn’t so sure about his siblings. I guess we’d find out.

“Watch out for Clarisse,” Percy hissed as Chiron readied the flags. “If you can get her weapon out of her hand, she won’t hesitate to hit you. Her left hook is pretty dangerous.”

I nodded, giving Percy a side smile. He grinned back, determination settling into his eyes. As goofy as he was, I could definitely see the danger there.

Chiron let us in first, and Connor hopped on his toes as he led us in a screaming charge. As soon as we hit the trees, the Hermes kids were gone. Percy and I veered to the left without much thought, sitting against a rather large tree. A minute later, the thundering footsteps of the other team joined us. Clarisse’s booming voice could be heard over everything else. As she shouted orders, I knew Annabeth was running off with the flag. I peeked around the tree to see a fully armored body rush right past us. Good.

Percy waited for me to get up. I guess Annabeth had told him about our adventures together. I told him to wait, and darted across into a thicker part of the trees. When he joined me, I hissed, “They’re going to put their flag in a dense part of the forest. It’s the easiest way to keep it from being found.”

He nodded and glanced around. “South. We need to go towards the lake.”

I motioned for him to lead the way and he took off through the trees, me on his heels.

When we hit the break on the lake’s edge, he glanced back at me. “Trust me.” And he grabbed me and ran into the water.

Being underwater didn’t really bother me; this wasn’t the ocean, so I doubted Poseidon was going to come up from the depths of his palace to kick my ass. The giant air bubble surrounding us bugged me. The fact that I was moving just as fast, if not faster, as I would on land bothered me. When we came up on land and were completely dry, I was still bugging, just a bit.

“What the hell was that?” I hissed.

“Better than running around the lake’s edge.”

He glanced around and took off running again. I followed, spear at the ready.

There was a shout, then arrows raining down on our heads. I grabbed Percy and put my spear up, covering both of us as we disappeared back into the trees.

“Of course they’d put the damn Apollo kids around the flag,” I grumbled, knocking arrows out of my shield. I’d have to run it by Charlie to fix some of the holes again.

“That means we’re heading in the right direction.” Percy grinned big again and I rolled my eyes.

“Comforting.”

The sound of combat followed us through the trees. We stayed in the thicket to avoid detection, but we also had to move slower, avoiding leaves and twigs on the ground. Once, someone came crashing through the brush where we had ducked down, and I almost impaled Emilio, the very loving child of Hermes who just pushed my spear point away and zipped his lips as he jumped back out into the clearing.

Like I had imagined, fifteen minutes was a gross understatement. After what I could only assume had been an hour, we finally laid eyes on the flag. Standing directly in front of it was Michael Yew, head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Accustomed to a bow and arrow, I had watched him spar swords with Percy and knew he was no amateur. I gathered myself up and balanced my spear on my palm. I had one shot.

Percy glanced between me and Yew, eyes narrowed before he nodded. Blind faith was going to get this boy killed.

I took the shot, pinning Michael’s shirt to the tree behind him. Percy was on his feet towards the flag before he could get himself away from the tree. Michael pulled his sword and took a swing as Percy’s hands closed around the flagpole, and it shimmered to our color.

“Hell yeah!” I shouted, jumping into the air. Michael looked put out for a second, but handed me back my spear with a smile.

“Way to go.”

The teams came flooding to our clearing; Annabeth glared at Percy but smiled at me, and Clarisse looked downright murderous.

 

That night the prize was announced. We had first shower privileges, smallest cabin to biggest, and would be off of washing dishes for a week. It was a small victory, but it was our victory.


	3. Quest pt 1

I spent two weeks dreaming of my brother. He was just a baby when our mother sold him to Hera, and I never forgave her for it. It occurred to me as I stared at the statue of my dad that I should look for my mother again. Some kind of closure with her – maybe an explanation. That is what I needed.

Camp was a good distraction from my problems. Annabeth and I had designated time to spar with each other, and I had a blast with the Apollo kids in Arts&Crafts.

Around August all the summer kids left, which cleared out the camp significantly. Almost all of the Apollo kids were gone, which meant Archery had been cut short in the afternoon. Arts&Crafts was the only distraction I had now, since I refused to practice spear combat with Clarisse and her brothers. Campfire sing along at night was hilarious with the Hermes kids leading the charge; mostly since Emilio and Andrea were the only ones who could actually sing and Connor kept insisting we sing some Girl Scout song about underwear.

I caught up with Grover in September, when he brought back demigod twins. He told me how everything had been going since I’d died, and that he was super happy to see me again. It was nice to see a familiar face that I didn’t feel protective of, and Grover and I spent more time together as it got colder and colder.

Nyssa led the project on reheating the cabins. And when she came around for heating inspection, we spent almost three hours talking. She was older than me, but never once did she treat me like a child, like the boys in the Demeter cabin did. I liked talking to Nyssa, and went out of my way to find ways to talk to her, including overloading my heating so she’d have to hang around in a worker’s belt.

Around November, there was a big fight on whether or not we should have a Thanksgiving dinner, which ultimately got overrun by the Demeter cabin.

At the beginning of December, Grover asked me what I wanted for my birthday.

“I don’t even know how old I am, Grover.”

“I never know how old I am,” he laughed, rubbing his hands together.

We were walking around the edge of the forest, enjoying the first day we had off in a week.

“The best I can guess,” he said, glancing at me. “is that you’re probably about 14 or 15.”

“So I’ll either be 15 or 16 on the twenty-second.”

He nodded slowly. “Let’s hope it’s fifteen.”

“Why?”

“Uhm. No reason. I gotta go, Thals. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Grover!”

He’d taken off back to the Big House.

“Grover Underwood, get your goat ass back here.” I took off after him. I heard Connor make some joke, but I caught Grover by the arm and whirled him around to face me.

“What the hell are you talking about, Grover?”

“Nothing it’s just a … just a prophecy.”

That didn’t sound good. Grover trusted me with basically everything.

“Just a prophecy?”

“Okay, it’s a big prophecy. And I mean … we’ll have to talk to Chiron about it. I just … I don’t want you to panic.”

Oh yeah, I’m totally not going to panic. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to lead the way. Chiron and Mr. D glanced up from their board game as we entered.

“She wants to know about the prophecy, Chiron.”

Mr. D looked at me with complete loathing in his eyes. It was hard to forget that my father had put him here. I looked away as Chiron sighed.

“Go upstairs to the Oracle, Thalia.” I nodded and trudged up the stairs. I heard Mr. D tell Grover about another group of demigods he needed to find.

The Oracle was something I had heard about; she used to be a maiden, switching every lifetime, until a few decades ago there was a big fight and my dad halted her transitions. Now she was an old mummy in the attic of the Big House. And it smelled up here.

She was sitting in the corner by herself, surrounded by a labyrinth of junk. I trudged through the piles of stuff and walked up to the Oracle. I knew I had to ask her a question, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Staring at her mummified face, I felt my stomach turn.

“What is my prophecy?” I tried. Maybe it wasn’t mine. Maybe it was Luke’s. Maybe it was Annabeth’s, or Grover’s. When I decided to try again, her eyes opened, glowing a sickly green. Smoke poured out around my feet and her voice started in an old, echoey tone:

“ _A Half-Blood of the eldest gods_ ,

_Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_.”

Her voice stopped, and the smoke disappeared around us. Her eyes lingered on me for a second and then they closed as well, leaving me alone with her cryptic words. I didn’t want to go back downstairs. I didn’t want to look Grover in the eye knowing he thought I was the child in the prophecy. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be the child in the prophecy, but if I was turning 16 at the end of December, then it would have to be.

I sympathized with how Grover felt about it.

 

I repeated the words to myself as I walked downstairs. Once I was certain I had them committed to memory, I entered the main room, where Chiron and Mr. D were back playing their game.

“Where’s Grover?”

“He is off gathering some new demigods,” Mr. D said sourly. I looked at Chiron, who shook his head at any further questions.

“Maybe you should go reflect on what the Oracle told you, Ms. Grace,” Mr. D snapped.

I left, looking out at the camp. I didn’t want to sit in my cabin, bothering myself with words that could be harmless. Instead, I pulled my shield off my wrist and walked to the Hephaestus cabin.

Charlie opened the door with a big smile, and glanced at my shield.

“Oh no, what happened?”

“Capture the Flag happened. I kept forgetting to bring it by.”

He nodded solemnly and took my shield, waving me on as he disappeared into the bunker beneath the cabin. Everyone was down here, including Nyssa, who grinned when she saw me and put down her tools.

“Long time, no see, Freckles. How’s it been?”

“I got a prophecy today.”

“Oh no,” said a voice from behind a large sheet of metal. Jake Mason’s head poked around the side and he looked sad. “Do you want some cocoa or something? I’m sure we’ve got a water heater around her somewhere.”

I glanced up at Nyssa, who grinned and threw her arms around my shoulder. “Jake likes to try and help without actually trying to help. He figures a shock blanket and cocoa can fix just about anything.”

“He might be on to something.” We laughed as we followed Jake through the maze looking for a water heater and a blanket that didn’t put out fires.

Twenty minutes later, Nyssa and I were upstairs on her bunk, a blanket secured tightly around my shoulders and a cup of cocoa in my hands.

“It’s so hot in here, how do you guys survive?”

“We don’t feel heat.” Nyssa was playing with a tiny golden ball with silver wings; she kept tossing it above her head and frowning when its wings wouldn’t quite keep it up.

“That helps.”

“Tremendously.” She sat up and opened the back compartment on the ball. I noticed its wings had formed to its sides and now looked gold as well. While she tinkered with some of the gears, I sipped my cocoa in the comfortable silence.

Finally she asked, “What are your plans for the solstice this year?”

“Does the camp do something for the solstice?”

“We try too. If we have enough people around. Usually the Aphrodite and Demeter cabin’s get together and put on a performance. It’s pretty cool.”

“Sounds it.” I hesitated before saying, “That’s my birthday.”

She dropped her screwdriver and the little golden ball. “Holy shit, no way.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not a huge deal or –“

“Not a huge deal my ass. We’re throwing you a birthday party.” She leaned over to pick the ball back up. I didn’t think she’d take an argument so I changed the subject.

“What is that?”

“This?” She held the ball out. I nodded. “It’s a Snitch.”

“Like, it tattles on people?”

“You’ve never seen Harry Potter,” She deadpanned. I shook my head.

“Okay, there’s this game in Harry Potter. It’s called Quidditch. They play it on brooms and stuff; it’s pretty cool. So there’s the Quaffle, which is the ball you score with. There’s two Beater balls, which are these big black balls that the Beater players hit around at other players to try and knock you off your broom. Then there’s the Snitch.” She presented it to me again. “It’s a tiny little flying ball that the Seeker has to catch. If you catch it, its 150 points and it ends the game.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“Not really. Jake, Charlie and I decided we were going to recreate a Quidditch field. The Beater balls were easy; you just need a rotating gyroscope in the center to make it throw itself around. Then the Beaters can hit it, and knock it off course. But this Snitch,” she opened the panel again. “It has a pretty complex AI system inside of it, but it’s so tiny that it’s difficult. Jake suggested I make a separate panel, like one that someone in the crowd could hold, and just transmit the AI that way. But that creates radio waves and we’d end up with monsters crawling all over the barrier.”

“There’s no way to transmit it without the waves?”

“Well, yeah, in theory, but I don’t really have the energy to figure that out just to get the Snitch to work properly. It’s too much time and we’re hoping to start playing in Spring. The Apollo kids already submitted their Quidditch team.”

“Who else is playing?”

“The Hermes cabin has a team – Connor and Travis are ‘captains’ and I’m worried that they’re just gonna all come out with Beater bats and try and kill each other.”

I snorted. “Sounds like something they’d do.”

“Yeah. Hey, do you want to join a team? I’m sure we could gather some ragtag kids and put together a multi-cabin team.”

“Ah.” I didn’t like heights, and I imagined this game would be played rather high up to keep other people from getting hurt in the process. “I, uh, I don’t fly.”

Nyssa glanced at me for a second, then I saw it click. “Alright. Well, if you still want to captain a team or something, I’m sure you could whip up a group to flying right.”

We laughed.

 

When I left the Hephaestus cabin, I realized I hadn’t thought about the prophecy once.

Sitting at dinner, I stared at my plate and rolled peas around while I mulled it over. The first line made sense; I had technically died. That sounded like ‘all odds’ to me. The rest of it sounded ridiculous and over-exaggerated, but I knew trying to figure out a prophecy typically only made the prophecy worse. The best I could do was ignore it completely, and put it together as situations unraveled.

Giving up on my food, I poured rice and peas into the fire and hoped Zeus  liked his vegetables.

 

It was another week and a half before I heard anything from Annabeth. She scared the living hell out of me just before I was going to bed, popping up beside my bunk in a misty blur.

“Thalia?” she shouted.

“Yes, I’m right here, pipe down.”

“Oh good. Sorry, my connection’s a little bad. Are you up for a little rescue mission?”

“What do you mean?”

“Grover was going to get those two demigods and there’s a monster. He can’t do it alone.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m up for it. When do I leave?”

“Tomorrow. Percy’s mom is gonna pick you up at Camp around 8.”

“Did someone tell Chiron?”

“Yeah, I think Grover told Mr. D. They know you’ll be leaving.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow, Annabeth.”

“Bye, Thalia.”

Her face disappeared and I laid back down. I stayed still for about fifteen minutes before I jumped up and packed some stuff. Then I pulled on a pair of jeans and my skull t-shirt and laid back down. I fell asleep wondering how tomorrow was going to go.

When I woke up in the morning, I had to tell myself to slow down as I pulled on my rings and bracelets and put on eyeliner before shoving it into my pocket. I ran my hand through my hair and stomped outside, right up to the pine tree. My pine tree. I touched its branches. It was weird, to look at it and realize that’s exactly what I had been for the past five years. I should be, what now? 17? 18? And I wasn’t. I was a fifteen year old that had been a tree for five years.

Nyssa snuck up behind me, a huge grin on her face. She had a pretty nasty burn mark on her cheek, but it didn’t seem to be hurting her.

“I heard you were leaving today.”

“Yeah, Grover apparently called Mr. D.”

“Yeah Connor told me.” She held up a woven bracelet and grinned again. “I made you a thing.”

“That’s really cool!” I took it from her and slipped it on. It tightened, which was nice, and had one bright strand of blue woven into earthy colors. “Thank you!”

“Yeah, Jake showed me how to do weaving patterns. It’s really not that different from, like, electrical stuff, so I picked it up pretty quick.”

She shifted, still grinning, so I hugged her. She pulled me in tight and laid her unburnt cheek on my head. “Stay safe out there, Freckles. And make it back before the solstice so I can throw you a birthday party.”

“I will,” I mumbled against her shoulder. She pulled away and grinned awkwardly before darting back to her cabin. I remembered that this would be the first time I’d fought a monster since my last night on Half-Blood Hill.

I didn’t think I was prepared.


End file.
